2009/04/24: CommonTragedies: Bizarro politicsSo let me get this straight. Today, Al Gore came and testified before Congress on the merits of markets (pricing externalities). And Newt Gingrich voiced his strong preference for government picked winners and subsidies rather than market mechanisms. Just checkin.

2009/04/24: SF Gate: Air Resources Board moves to cut carbon use — passes LCFS: Low Carbon Fuel StandardCalifornia’s Air Resources Board on Thursday approved a first-in-the-world regulation to minimize the amount of carbon in fuel, putting California on the cutting edge of promoting alternative fuels in a bid to combat global warming. The regulation will require fuel manufacturers to cut the so-called carbon intensity of fuels sold in the state 10 percent by 2020 – lowering the amount of greenhouse gases released for every unit of energy produced. If the regulation’s goal is reached, it will account for 10 percent of the state’s overall goal for reducing greenhouse gases by 2020. Air board Chairwoman Mary Nichols said the rule, called the low carbon fuel standard, will create a global framework for automotive fuels. The board approved the proposal, 9-1.

2009/04/23: CBC: California first in U.S. to adopt low-carbon fuel rulesRegulators in California have adopted a first-in-the-nation mandate on Thursday requiring low-carbon fuels, part of the state’s wider effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The California Air Resources Board voted 9-1 in Sacramento, Calif., to approve the standards, which are expected to create a new market for alternative fuels and could serve as a template for a national policy that has been advocated by U.S. President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress.

2009/04/23: G&M: Oil sands braces for American green fuel regulationFederal and Alberta officials will make a last-ditch effort in California today to head off a regulation that would target oil sands emission levels and create a new barrier to the export of the unconventional oil. Despite significant opposition, California’s Air Resources Board is expected today to approve North America’s first low-carbon fuel standard, a system that is expected to be a model for the U.S. federal government, 13 American states and several Canadian provinces that have proposed similar regulations.

2009/04/21: SF Gate: Calif. considers low-carbon fuel standardCalifornia air regulators are taking another step to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, considering first-in-the nation standards to require the use of so-called low-carbon fuels. The California Air Resources Board, which will debate the standards Thursday, considers the regulation a framework for a potential national policy advocated by President Barack Obama on the campaign trail last year.

2009/04/23: CBC: Include indigenous rights in global climate change policies, summit toldAny global agreement on climate change has to include the rights of Aboriginal Peoples, delegates said Wednesday at an international climate change summit in Anchorage, Alaska. The connection between the rights of indigenous peoples and climate change took centre stage Wednesday at the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change, hosted by the Inuit Circumpolar Council. “Our indigenous people are saying that the effects of climate change right now [are] affecting our right to practise our culture,” Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, told CBC News on Wednesday. “It’s affecting our right to live in a sustainable manner, and to have access to our traditional food systems.”

2009/04/19: Yahoo: Indigenous groups hold climate summit in AlaskaIndigenous people from around the world are gathering in Anchorage this week for a conference on climate change, a subject participants say disproportionately affects them though they share relatively little responsibility for it. Patricia Cochran, chairwoman of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, said the United Nations-affiliated conference intends to provide “a unified voice, to be able to have more influence over the political and other decisions that are being made that impact our communities.” About 400 people from 80 nations were expected to attend the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change, where organizers will create a plan and demand that countries around the world include indigenous people as they respond to climate change.

G8 environment ministers (officials?) held a meeting in Sicily:

2009/04/23: EarthTimes: US vows ‘meaningful response’ to climate changeSyracuse, Italy – Top United States environment officials Thursday reassured Group of Eight (G8) governments that US President Barack Obama would push for a “meaningful” global response to climate change. “The US government now fully acknowledges the urgency and complexity of climate change challenges, and we know full well that a meaningful US response to this challenge is absolutely essential,” Lisa Jackson, head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said after talks in Syracuse, Italy, with G8 environment ministers.

2009/04/22: PlanetArk: U.S. In Spotlight At Talks On Global Warming FightA new U.S. commitment to tackle global warming as outlined by President Barack Obama will be the focus of attention on Wednesday at a meeting of international environment ministers. Obama has already pledged to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and observers will be looking to see if U.S. delegates give new details of American plans for action. The three-day summit brings together industrialized and developing countries on the Italian island of Sicily. It seeks to make progress in talks toward a new U.N. deal on cutting carbon emissions, due to be signed in December in Copenhagen, and to get countries to stem the loss of biodiversity.

While in Antarctica:

2009/04/25: SMH: A scarier, colder vision of the climate change futureSo the sea ice around Antarctica is growing, not shrinking. Hurrah! We’re all saved from the misguided, mistaken and self-interested prognostications of those fiendish, bearded, white-coated climate scientists. Er, no. The sea ice in Antarctica is growing because of the hole in the ozone layer, not because the planet is getting cooler. It’s a localised effect, not a planet-wide phenomenon. If it was, the Arctic ice cap would not be shrinking.

More on aerosols:

2009/04/23: BBC: Pollution ‘fights global warming’Air pollution may be helping the fight against global warming by enhancing the ability of plants to absorb carbon dioxide, scientists say. Since the 1960s, increased levels of atmospheric pollution have enhanced plant productivity by as much as one quarter, research has found. In terms of carbon dioxide, this means that an extra 10% has been stored in the soil.

Has it been established that (fewer sunspots == cooler)?

2009/04/21: BBC: ‘Quiet Sun’ baffling astronomersThe Sun is the dimmest it has been for nearly a century. There are no sunspots, very few solar flares – and our nearest star is the quietest it has been for a very long time. The observations are baffling astronomers, who are due to study new pictures of the Sun, taken from space, at the UK National Astronomy Meeting

2009/04/19: Independent(UK): Just £4bn will save a generation from starvation, says UNG8 agriculture ministers try to halt ‘spiral of hunger’ created by drought, falling prices and credit crunch Agriculture ministers from the world’s richest countries are holding an unprecedented meeting this weekend as the United Nations warns that hunger threatens to “spiral out of control” in the wake of the financial crisis. The three-day meeting, which opened in Italy yesterday, will address a growing food crisis as harvests threaten to slump at a time when record numbers of people are already hungry. Crops are being hit by a combination of bad weather, falling food prices and farmers’ being refused credit to buy seeds and fertilisers.

2009/04/20: SeedDaily: Walker’s World: G8’s thin food summitThe good news is that the world’s key agricultural ministers convened this weekend for the first time under the auspices of the G8 summit process. The bad news is that they addressed everything except the three large elephants in the room. Two of these elephants are familiar; the massive and market-distorting $300 billion a year spent on food subsidies and protection by the United States, Europe and Japan and the botched way that Europe and the United States are running their biofuels programs. […] The third elephant is new: the way that countries fearing food shortages are making bilateral deals with poorer countries to buy or lease farmland to provide guaranteed crops for their own citizens.

2009/04/24: PhysOrg: Levees cannot fully eliminate risk of flooding to New OrleansLevees and floodwalls surrounding New Orleans — no matter how large or sturdy — cannot provide absolute protection against overtopping or failure in extreme events, says a new report by the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council. The voluntary relocation of people and neighborhoods from areas that are vulnerable to flooding should be considered as a viable public policy option, the report says. If relocation is not feasible, an alternative would be to elevate the first floor of buildings to at least the 100-year flood level.

2009/04/23: Reuters: Rich nation greenhouse gas emissions rise in 2007Greenhouse gas emissions from industrialized nations rose by nearly one percent in 2007, led by strong gains in the United States, official data showed. Carbon emissions from countries signed up to the Kyoto Protocol climate pact edged up by 0.1 percent in 2007, mainly due to rises in Japan and Canada.

2009/04/21: BBC: Oxfam warns of climate disastersThe number of people hit by climate-related disasters is expected to rise by about 50%, to reach 375m a year by 2015, the UK-based charity Oxfam says. Current humanitarian systems are barely able to cope, an Oxfam study contends. It warns agencies are in danger of being overwhelmed by events such as flooding, storms and drought. The group called for a radical shift so that humanitarian aid is sent impartially, instead of on the basis of political or other preferences.

As for the coral reefs:

2009/04/23: ABC(Au): ‘Lucky escape’ for Barrier Reef coralIn the midst of dire predictions about the future of the Great Barrier Reef, scientists have discovered what they are cautiously calling a “small ray of hope”. Some badly-damaged corals have repaired themselves and the recovery has happened almost 10 times faster than usual. Scientists say while it is a heartening discovery, the threat of climate change has not diminished.

2009/04/24: MiamiHerald: FHP debates reopening Alligator Alley Friday as wildfire burnsThe Florida Highway Patrol will decide Friday morning whether to reopen Alligator Alley, the main artery connecting South Florida’s east and west coasts, as a wildfire continues to burn in the Big Cypress Natural Preserve, a park spokesman said. A 55-mile stretch of Alligator Alley/Interstate 75 has been closed in both directions since Wednesday night, when smoke from a 7,500-acre-plus blaze created dangerous conditions for drivers.

2009/04/23: CNN: South Carolina blaze rages in Myrtle Beach areaWildfire has consumed 15,000 acres in Horry County, South Carolina – Area is home to popular tourist spots, including Myrtle Beach – South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford declares state of emergency in county – No injuries are reported, but fire damages dozens of homes

2009/04/21: SMH: Bushfire review to assess evacuationMass evacuations in fire-prone areas might need to be considered during extreme danger to avoid another Black Saturday, the royal commission into Victoria’s bushfire disaster was told. On its opening in Melbourne yesterday the commission was told that people who stayed to defend their homes on February 7 were “entirely unaware” of the severity of what they faced. Fiercely powerful fireballs created their own weather and were beyond the most sophisticated attempts to control them, said Jack Rush, QC, counsel assisting the commission, in his opening remarks. Australia’s “stay or go” policy, allowing people in fire-prone areas to make their own decisions on whether to stay and protect their property on days of extreme danger, was unique and would be a key focus of the commission, Mr Rush said.

2009/04/21: BBC: World’s major rivers ‘drying up’Water levels in some of the world’s most important rivers have declined significantly over the past 50 years, US researchers say. They say the reduced flows are linked to climate change and will have a major impact as the human population grows. The only area with a significant increase in water flows was the Arctic due to a greater snow and ice melting.

Consider transportation & GHG production:

2009/04/26: SMH: Bold pipedream for $1b-a-year free rideThree cheers for MP Paul Gibson and what, at first blush, appeared to be a slightly wacky idea to make public transport free. As his detractors muttered “Oh no, Gibbo’s at it again” the maverick member for Blacktown insisted it wasn’t such a crazy idea. Politically, it’s inspired. Practically, it’s possible. Economically, it’s feasible. Gibbo’s free trains, buses and ferries for all is great left-field thinking that should not be dismissed out of hand. It would cost just $1 billion a year to give millions of people an irresistible reason to leave the car at home.

Before we get into politics, there was some science done:

2009/04/24: ABC(Au): Scientists work on a warning system for climate changeA climate change workshop in Hobart has been told the Southern Ocean is getting warmer. The gathering of some of the world’s top scientists are trying to develop a warning system for climate change. The workshop was told about changes in ocean currents and sea ice. Dr Andrew Constable from the Antarctic Co-operative Research Centre says what is happening in the Southern Ocean has a widespread effect. “It’s very clear that there are signals that are happening in the Southern Ocean that can be related to similar signals in temperate and tropical systems,” he said.

2009/04/24: TerraDaily: New momentum for global climate pact despite ‘gaps’The world’s top polluters have found new momentum towards a landmark deal to fight global warming at Group of Eight-led talks, but serious “gaps” remain to be overcome, delegates said Friday. “Realism has set in in discussions among key nations… the realisation that time is running out” ahead of key UN talks in Copenhagen in December, said Achim Steiner, the head of the UN Environment Programme, as the three-day talks wound up in Syracuse, Italy. “I do leave Syracuse very much concerned that there is no clear pathway to resolving the gaps that remain,” Steiner admitted, saying the main stumbling blocks were setting targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and financing for the greening of developing countries.

2009/04/23: EnvFin: US renewables standard unachievable, say legislatorsSeveral US states would find it impossible to meet a proposed federal standard on renewable energy generation, legislators complained during hearings this week. States such as Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Missouri and Tennessee could not generate sufficient electricity from wind and solar to meet the 25% by 2025 mandate featured in a proposal on climate change by Congressmen Henry Waxman and Ed Markey, currently being debated in the US House of Representatives

2009/04/20: NYT:CW: A brawl over numbers breaks out in cap-and-trade debateFuzzy math is back, with a climate twist. From the halls of Congress to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, experts and politicians are hoisting conflicting numbers describing the cost of a cap on greenhouse gases, with amounts from $3,100 to $324 to zero being touted as the annual hit on households. As Congress returns this week, it will find a cloud of numerical discrepancies hovering over climate change legislation. Republicans are claiming that the average family’s wallet will get hit hard with global-warming regulation. Democrats are countering that the GOP is grossly exaggerating data from prominent universities for political gain. And interest groups are spatting about the mathematical meaning of the same studies.

2009/04/20: Yahoo: Energy Bill Would Create Climate AgencyA sweeping energy bill under consideration by a House panel not only would try to curb global warming but also would create a federal program on adapting to climate changes that may be inevitable. Draft legislation recently unveiled by Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, would set up a “national climate service” within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide information on the effects of climate change

Minority Leader John Boehner made some particularly uninformed comments:

2009/04/19: QuarkSoup: Boehner’s BonerMinority Leader John Boehner’s denial of the scientific consensus on climate change, offered this morning on ABC’s This Week, is so comical, so stupid, and so incredibly ignorant that I don’t know if I want to move to France, slit my wrists, or give him an award:

British cops are more interested in protecting the established carbon order than dealing with the climate change problem:

2009/04/25: BBC: Police ‘pay protester informers’Police are using hundreds of paid informants inside protest groups to “feed them intelligence”, according to evidence handed to the Guardian. The paper says it has obtained tapes of discussions between men claiming to be undercover officers from Strathclyde Police and a Plane Stupid activist. The recordings appear to show money being offered for information.

2009/04/24: SMH: Britain aims to cut emissions 34%Britain has announced it will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by nearly seven times the amount Australia has committed to. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, has promised the Government will cut emissions by 34 per cent by 2020 and said it would go even further if other countries agreed to take action during international negotiations this year.

2009/04/23: BBC: ‘Clean’ coal plants get go-aheadThe [UK] government has given the go-ahead for a new generation of coal-fired power plants – but only if they can prove they can reduce their emissions. Up to four new plants will be built if they are fitted with technology to trap and store CO2 emissions underground. The technology is not yet proven and would only initially apply to 25% of power stations’ output.

2009/04/22: BBC: Budget: Green tinge or blue rinse?Alistair Darling’s speech marks the first time that a Chancellor of the UK Treasury has set a budget for carbon, as well as for the myriad pots of money that a government commands. So now, the country has a “legally binding” target: to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 34% with respect to 1990 levels by 2020. Mr Darling’s adoption of the figure proposed in December by the Committee on Climate Change, the government’s advisory body, was expected – anything less would have been a major surprise

And in Europe:

2009/04/23: SwissInfo: Swiss eat up record amount of energyThe Swiss are a nation of energy guzzlers — figures show that electricity consumption grew to its highest level ever in 2008. The government is already looking for new ways to generate enough power for the nation’s needs. Green campaigners are calling for energy saving measures to be speeded up. Electricity consumption last year increased by 2.3 per cent to 58.7 billion kilowatt hours (kWh), a new record for electricity consumption in one year, according to the latest Federal Energy Office figures. The statistics, released on April 15, also show that domestic power plants generated 1.6 per cent more electricity than in the previous year — the second-highest amount ever produced

2009/04/24: SMH: Coal burning must end, says scientistA CSIRO scientist has told a Senate inquiry it is imperative to begin phasing out coal burning in order to avoid dangerous climate change. No coal-fired power plants should be built, and existing plants must shut within 20 years, if the world is to keep atmospheric carbon dioxide at a less dangerous level, the climatologist James Risbey said. Yesterday Dr Risbey joined other CSIRO scientists who have spoken out personally to the Senate committee on climate policy’s inquiry after the CSIRO decided against making a submission.

2009/04/23: SMH: Rare support for [Aus-ETS aka CPRS] climate schemeThe Australian Conservation Foundation has urged politicians to approve the emissions trading scheme so it can begin next year. The foundation said while its support for the scheme was not absolute it believed the threat of climate change was so great the scheme needed to begin as soon as possible.

2009/04/22: ABC(Au): ETS ‘must pass Parliament this year’Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) executive director Don Henry says both sides of government need a “wake-up call” on climate change and has urged the Senate to “fix” and pass emissions trading laws this year. Passage of the Government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) through the Senate has been looking increasingly unlikely with the Opposition and crossbench senators both unhappy with the legislation. The Government, however, is sticking to its plans to have legislation passed this year for the scheme to begin next year.

2009/04/23: ABC(Au): ‘Lucky escape’ for Barrier Reef coralIn the midst of dire predictions about the future of the Great Barrier Reef, scientists have discovered what they are cautiously calling a “small ray of hope”. Some badly-damaged corals have repaired themselves and the recovery has happened almost 10 times faster than usual. Scientists say while it is a heartening discovery, the threat of climate change has not diminished.

2009/04/22: SMH: Caltex fuels debate on emissionsPeople will drive their cars more often and for longer distances causing greenhouse gas emissions to rise under the Federal Government’s proposed emissions trading scheme, according to Australia’s largest oil refining company. Caltex has told the Government its plan to reduce the excise on petrol is counterproductive because it will overcompensate motorists for petrol price rises under the scheme.

2009/04/20: ABC(Au): ‘World has 6 years to act’ on climate changeThe Government’s chief scientist wants the country to set the toughest possible targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, warning that action must begin now against climate change. […] Professor Penny Sackett would not put an exact figure on what she thought the target should be but she said she has advised the Government to set the steepest target possible

How can you tell New Zealand has a conservative government?

2009/04/25: NZHerald: NIWA man fired for media talkLeading Government scientist Jim Salinger, an international pioneer in climate change research, has been sacked for what he says is talking out of turn to news organisations. Dr Salinger, 62, says he was summarily dismissed from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) at 4pm on Thursday, and given three and a half hours to clear out his Auckland office.

Saskatchewan says it can’t afford to be green:

2009/04/23: G&M: Saskatchewan reneges on climate-changeOne of the few provinces in the black can’t afford to go green. Citing the world economic slump, Saskatchewan’s government is reneging on an election promise to reduce greenhouse gases 32 per cent by 2020. Environment Minister Nancy Heppner said this week that a 32-per-cent reduction would be “a pretty huge burden on industry” and that a revised, intensity-based target was forthcoming.

Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

2009/04/21: G&M: Albertans need a climate-change reality checkA strange and alarming disconnect has opened between what the Alberta government sees and believes about climate-change policy, and what is actually emerging in the United States. Alberta, which accounts for about 32 per cent of Canada’s emissions and is home to the “dirty” oil from the tar sands, seems convinced that threats from the south are hollow.

Alberta and Ottawa are edgy about the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard:

2009/04/23: G&M: Oil sands braces for American green fuel regulationFederal and Alberta officials will make a last-ditch effort in California today to head off a regulation that would target oil sands emission levels and create a new barrier to the export of the unconventional oil. Despite significant opposition, California’s Air Resources Board is expected today to approve North America’s first low-carbon fuel standard, a system that is expected to be a model for the U.S. federal government, 13 American states and several Canadian provinces that have proposed similar regulations.

And then there is the miscellaneous Canadiana:

2009/04/22: G&M: B.C. snags top spot in green report card; Alberta gets high marksBritish Columbia gets the top ranking in a comprehensive “green” report card being issued today that evaluates the environmental performance of Canadian provinces and territories. The comparison, calculated by Toronto-based Corporate Knights magazine, rates Ontario and the three sparsely populated territories just behind British Columbia. But the next best ranking is more of a surprise: Alberta beats out Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and all the Atlantic provinces.

2009/04/20: Grist: Steven Chu doesn’t talk in sound bites[…] I wonder why The Washington Post, which has on staff two serious experts on energy and environmental policy (Juliet Eilperin and Steve Mufson), would send Romano, a journalist whose sort of expertise is in for what passes as “celebrity” in Washington, to interview a Nobel Prize winner who’s trying to save the f’ing human race!?!?

The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

2009/04/24: SMH: Coal burning must end, says scientistA CSIRO scientist has told a Senate inquiry it is imperative to begin phasing out coal burning in order to avoid dangerous climate change. No coal-fired power plants should be built, and existing plants must shut within 20 years, if the world is to keep atmospheric carbon dioxide at a less dangerous level, the climatologist James Risbey said. Yesterday Dr Risbey joined other CSIRO scientists who have spoken out personally to the Senate committee on climate policy’s inquiry after the CSIRO decided against making a submission.

Biofuel bickering abounds:

2009/04/25: SMH: Worm’s turn as tequila fuels carIt has powered many a wild night and now it might power your car. Researchers in south-east Queensland are hoping the plant that fuels tequila madness can fuel internal combustion engines as well. Agave tequilana, used to make the potent spirit, is one of the most water-efficient plants in the world and has the potential to create ethanol, according to Central Queensland University’s Professor Nanjappa Ashwath.

2009/04/24: BBC: UK car production falls by halfThe number of new cars produced in the UK fell by more than a half in March compared to a year earlier, industry figures have shown. The 51.3% drop is a slight improvement on the record drop of 59% in February, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) figures show

2009/04/23: BBC: Carmakers see sales drop furtherItalian carmaker Fiat has announced a loss of 410m euros ($535m; £368m) for the first quarter of this year […] Hyundai has also announced disappointing first quarter results. Net profit fell by 43% to 225bn won ($167.4m; £115.1m) as sales plunged. Toyota has also reported falling sales. The world’s largest carmaker said it sold 27% fewer vehicles in the first three months of the year compared with the same period last year

2009/04/24: NYT: Industry Ignored Its Scientists on ClimateFor more than a decade the Global Climate Coalition, a group representing industries with profits tied to fossil fuels, led an aggressive lobbying and public relations campaign against the idea that emissions of heat-trapping gases could lead to global warming. “The role of greenhouse gases in climate change is not well understood,” the coalition said in a scientific “backgrounder” provided to lawmakers and journalists through the early 1990s, adding that “scientists differ” on the issue. But a document filed in a federal lawsuit demonstrates that even as the coalition worked to sway opinion, its own scientific and technical experts were advising that the science backing the role of greenhouse gases in global warming could not be refuted.

2009/04/24: WaPo: Getting Real on Wind and SolarWhy are we ignoring things we know? We know that the sun doesn’t always shine and that the wind doesn’t always blow. That means that solar cells and wind energy systems don’t always provide electric power. Nevertheless, solar and wind energy seem to have captured the public’s support as potentially being the primary or total answer to our electric power needs.

P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.

“I know this sounds cynical. But politicians implementing a carbon tax face a great risk that unscrupulous political opponents will mislead the public by claiming we can reduce emissions without taxing gasoline, conveniently failing to mention that their cap-and-trade alternative should have the same upward effect on its price for the same emissions reductions.” -Dr. Marc Jaccard.